So, John McCain has chosen as his running mate a young (44) woman, Sarah Palin, who is the incumbent governor of Alaska. I won’t claim to know much about her, having not done much research, yet, but the little I’ve seen makes me cautiously optimistic. She’s been described as religious, conservative, and anti-abortion, all characteristics that are desirable in a Republican candidate for major office, and a nice balance against the “moderate,” less religious McCain. I’m sure more will come out that I’ll have to write on over the next 2 months.

I’m actually not here to comment on Sarah Palin, lest you think you misread the title of my post. I’m commenting on her daughter Bristol, 17, who is five months pregnant.

Barack Hus-Change Obama has apparently, in what is clearly calculated to appear as a magnanimous gesture, decided to declare Bristol Palin’s condition (or “punishment” as Obama would call it, one such punishment that he would not inflict on his own daughter) off limits to his campaign hacks. This in response to rumors circulated by the leftist press that the youngest Palin (4-month-old Trig, who has Down Syndrome, a condition normally associated with women giving birth in their 40s) was actually the son of Bristol, not Sarah.

Obama’s warning that the family is off limits might, at first glance, seem a bit unusual for an extreme leftist Democrat running for major office (for which character assassination, particularly with the goal of obscuring or minimizing their own character flaws, is usually par for the course), but with Obama, everything is calculated in advance and with a reason.

Obama, as we should all remember, is particularly thin-skinned when it comes to criticism of either himself or his wife. Barack Obama started complaining early and often that Michelle Obama was “off limits” to criticism in the right-wing press. This outburst has probably prompted someone in his campaign to tell him “if you go after the pregnant girl, it’ll be open season on your wife” hence the statement about family being off limits.

There are a few minor differences when it comes to family and what is and is not private, off-limits-to-political-campaigns, behavior. Bristol Palin’s misbehavior involved what millions of teenagers do, much to their unfortunate detriment, around the Western World. She let her hormones get the better of her and had the “It (pregnancy) will never happen to me” attitude about protection. That much is plain without any knowledge of the issue. I’m certainly not condoning it, and I certainly don’t think it’s right, but that’s how things go. Bristol’s misadventure occurred long before her mother was in the national spotlight (I challenge anyone outside Alaska, Washington, and Idaho to say that you’d even heard of Sarah Palin before this weekend) and will have absolutely no effect on Sarah Palin’s ability to execute the office of Vice President, or even President, should that become necessary. It’s a private, family matter having nothing whatsoever to do with the character or ability of the principal.

Criticism of Michelle Obama, on the other hand, is of a far different character. Barack Obama has, for years, been a nationally known figure for being a black man in the Senate. His presidential aspirations were known from the beginning, and his Senatorial half-term has pretty much been one, long campaign for the White House, much as we expected of Madame Hillary, hence his avoidance of sponsoring any meaningful legislation that some voter might not like. Michelle Obama has been criticized for her lack of patriotism and black chauvinism primarily because of speeches she has made in public. 

And therein lies the rub. Bristol Palin is off limits (and should be) because her act was (a) in the past, and (b) totally private.  Michelle Obama is (and should be) in bounds precisely because her acts were (a) during her husband’s campaign and (b) absolutely public. Public remarks made by anyone are open to criticism from they who disagree. And if you make remarks like “for the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country” because we nominated a black man for President, you’re going to be disagreed with.

Put another way, Bill Clinton’s numerous infidelities should have little effect on Hillary Clinton’s political aspirations. Her husband’s incontinence has little bearing on her ability to do the job, and should be left out of any future attempt that Hillary Clinton has in getting back into the White House. At the same time, public remarks by the former President (and his policies and actions in the White House) can and will be used against his wife, and that’s fair.

Here’s what I predict: Michelle Obama will say something stupid (by which I mean something that betrays her true feelings for whites or America) and will be called out for it by the McCain campaign (which is reasonable.) The Obama campaign will, then, declaring the gloves to be off, declare criticism of Bristol Palin to be within the bounds of reasonable political discourse and an all out assault on a 17-year-old girl will commence with the intent to take the focus off Barack’s own failings, flaws and delusions.